Alarm Monitoring and Management

This chapter explains how to manage alarms with Cisco Transport Controller (CTC), which includes

•Viewing alarms

•Viewing history

•Viewing conditions

•Viewing alarm counts on the front-panel LCD

•Creating and managing alarm profiles

•Suppressing alarms

To troubleshoot specific alarms, see the Cisco ONS 15454 Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide.

10.1 Overview

The Cisco Transport Controller (CTC) detects and reports SONET alarms generated by the Cisco ONS 15454 and the larger SONET network. You can use CTC to monitor and manage alarms at a card, node, or network levels and view alarm counts on the LCD front panel. Default alarm severities conform to the Telcordia GR-253 standard, but you can reset severities to customized alarm profiles or suppress CTC alarm reporting. For a detailed description of the standard Telcordia categories employed by ONS nodes, see the Cisco ONS 15454 Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide.

Note ONS 15454 alarms can also be monitored and managed through TL1 or a network management system (NMS).

10.2 Viewing ONS 15454 Alarms

At the card, node, or network-level CTC view, click the Alarms tab to display the alarms for that card, node or network. Table 10-1 lists the tab's column headings and the information recorded in each column.

Table 10-1 Alarms Column Descriptions

Column

Information Recorded

New

Indicates a new alarm. To change this status check either the Synchronize Alarms or Delete Cleared Alarms checkbox, or reset the active TCC+ card.

Date

Date and time of the alarm

Node

Node where the alarm occurred (displays in network view only)

Object

TL1 access identifier (AID) for the alarmed object

Type

Card type in this slot

Slot

Slot where the alarm occurred (displays in network and node view only)

The error message/alarm name. These are defined alphabetically in the alarm chapter of the Cisco ONS 15454 Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide.

Description

Description of the alarm

Num

A count of incrementing alarm messages (this column is hidden by default)

Ref

The reference number assigned to a cleared alarm (this column is hidden by default).

Figure 10-1 Viewing alarms in the CTC node view

Alarms display in one of five background colors, listed in Table 10-2, to quickly communicate the alarm severity. Events, conditions, and cleared alarms are also color coded. Conditions and events display in the History or Conditions tab.

Table 10-2 Color Codes for Alarms, Conditions, and Events

Color

Description

Red

Critical Alarm (CR)

Orange

Major Alarm (MJ)

Yellow

Minor Alarm (MN)

Magenta

Event (NA)

Blue

Condition (NR)

White

Cleared alarm or event (CL)

10.2.1 Controlling Alarm Display

You can control the display of the alarms on the Alarms tab. Table 10-3 shows the actions you can perform from the Alarms tab.

Table 10-3 Alarm Display

Button

Action

Synchronize Alarms

Updates the alarm display; although CTC displays alarms in real time, the Synchronize Alarms button allows you to verify the alarm display. This is particularly useful during provisioning or troubleshooting.

Delete Cleared Alarms

Deletes alarms that have been cleared

AutoDelete Cleared Alarms

If checked, CTC automatically deletes cleared alarms

Show Events (NA)

If checked, CTC shows alarms and not alarmed (NA) events or Conditions. Not-alarmed events do not require action and normally display only under the Conditions tab.

10.2.3 Conditions Tab

The Conditions tab displays retrieved fault conditions. A fault is a problem detected by ONS 15454 hardware or software. When a fault occurs and continues for a minimum time period, it raises a fault condition, which is a flag showing whether this particular fault currently exists on the ONS 15454. Fault conditions include all existing conditions, whether the severity is that of an alarm (Critical, Major or Minor) or a condition (Not Reported or Non Alarmed.) See the trouble notifications information in the Cisco ONS 15454 Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide for more information on the classifications for alarms and conditions.

Displaying all existing fault conditions is helpful while troubleshooting the ONS 15454. The Conditions tab does not adhere to Telcordia guidelines for reporting alarms, events, and conditions. Alarm reporting under the Alarms tab is Telcordia-compliant.

10.2.3.1 Retrieve and Display Conditions

At the node view, click the Conditions tab and the Retrieve Conditions button to retrieve the current set of all existing fault conditions from the ONS 15454, as maintained by the alarm manager. Users can perform the same operation at the card view for the card level and at the network view for the network level.

10.2.4 Viewing History

The History tab displays historical alarm data. It also displays events, which are non-alarmed activities such as timing changes and threshold crossings. For example, protection switching events or performance monitoring threshold crossings appear here. The History tab presents two alarm history views:

•The Session subtab ( Figure 10-5) presents alarms and events that have occurred during the current CTC session.

•The Node subtab shows the alarms and events that occurred at the node since the CTC software installation. The ONS 15454 can store up to 640 critical alarms, 640 major alarms, 640 minor alarms, and 256 events. When the limit is reached, the ONS 15454 discards the oldest alarms and events.

Tip Double click an alarm in the alarm table or an event in the history table to display the corresponding view. For example, double-clicking a card alarm takes you to card view. In network view, double-clicking a node alarm takes you to node view.

Figure 10-5 Viewing all alarms reported for the current session

10.2.5 Viewing Alarms on the LCD

The Critical, Major and Minor alarm LEDs on the fan-tray assembly front panel indicate whether a critical, major, or minor alarm is present anywhere on the ONS 15454. These LEDs are viewable through the front door so that you can quickly determine if any alarms are present on the node. These LEDs are independent of the Card, Port, and Status indicators on the LCD.

When you press the Slot, Status, or Port buttons on the LCD to toggle to a certain slot or port, the LCD displays the Critical, Major, or Minor alarm count for the selected slot and port. Figure 10-6 illustrates the LCD panel.

Note A blank LCD results when the fuse on the AIP board is blown. If this occurs, call Cisco TAC at 1-877-323-7368.

10.3 Alarm Profiles

The alarm profiles feature allows you to change default alarm severities by creating unique alarm profiles for individual ONS 15454 nodes. A profile you create can be applied to any node on the network. Alarm profiles must be stored on a node before they can be applied to a node, card, or port. CTC can store up to ten alarm profiles; eight are available for custom use and two are reserved. CTC can load an unlimited number of alarm profiles that have been stored on a node, server, or CTC workstation.

The two reserved profiles include the default profile, which sets severities to standard Telcordia GR-253 settings, and the Inherited profile, which sets all alarm severities to transparent (TR). If an alarm has an Inherited profile, it inherits (copies) its severity from the same alarm's severity at the next level. For example, a card with an Inherited alarm profile copies the severities used by the node that contains the card. The Inherited profile is not available at the node level.

10.3.1 Creating and Modifying Alarm Profiles

Alarm profiles are created at the network view using the Provisioning > Alarm Profiles tabs ( Figure 10-7.) A default alarm profile (in the Default column) is pre-provisioned for every alarm. After loading the Default profile on the node, you can use the Clone feature to create new profiles based on the default alarm profile. After the new profile is created, the Alarm Profiles tab shows the default profile and the new profile.

Step 7 Choose Clone from the menu. (You can also clone any other profiles that appear under the Available button, except Inherited.)

Step 8 In the Clone Profile Default dialog box, enter a name in New Profile Name.

Profile names must be unique. If you try to import or name a profile that has the same name as another profile, CTC adds a suffix to create a new name.

Step 9 Click OK.

A new alarm profile (named in Step 5) is created. This profile duplicates the severities of the default profile and is added as a new column on the far right-hand side.

Step 10 Modify (customize) the alarm profile:

a. In the new alarm profile column, click in a row that contains the alarm severity you want to change.

b. From the menu, select the desired severity.

c. Repeat Steps a and b for each alarm that needs to be changed.

d. After you have assigned the properties to your new alarm profile, click the new alarm profile to highlight it and click the Store button.

e. In the Store Profile(s) dialog box, select a node or nodes where the profile will be stored and/or specify a file on the workstation.

f. Click OK.

Note You can also clone alarm profiles shown under the Available tab.

10.3.1.1 Alarm Profile Menus

The Alarm Profiles tab displays two menus on the right-hand side, Node/Profile Ops and Profile Misc, which include six alarm profile buttons. Table 10-5 lists and describes each of the alarm profile buttons.

Table 10-5 Alarm Profile Buttons

Heading

Button

Description

Node Profile Ops

Load

Loads a profile to either a node or a file

Store

Saves profiles on a node (or nodes) or in a file

Delete

Deletes profiles from a node

Profile Misc.

Compare

Displays differences between alarm profiles (i.e. individual alarms that are not configured equivalently between profiles)

Available

Displays all of the profiles available on each node

Usage

Displays all of the entities present in the network and which profile(s) each is using

10.3.1.2 Alarm Profile Editing

Table 10-6 lists and describes the five profile editing options available when you right-click in an alarm profile column.

Table 10-6 Alarm Profile Editing Options

Button

Description

Store

Saves a profile in either a node or a file

Rename

Changes a profile name

Clone

Creates a new profile that contains the same alarm severity settings as the highlighted profile (the profile being cloned)

Reset

Restores a profile to the state of that profile before it was last applied or to the state when it was first loaded, if it has not yet been applied

Remove

Removes a profile from the table editor

10.3.1.3 Alarm Severity Option

You change or assign alarm severity using a menu. To view this menu, right-click the alarm you want to change in its alarm profile column. Seven severity levels appear for the alarm:

•CR: Critical

•MJ: Major

•MN: Minor

•NR: Not reported

•NA: Not alarmed

•TR: Transparent

•UNSET: Unset/Unknown (not normally used)

Transparent and Unset only appear in alarm profiles; they do not appear when you view alarms, history, or conditions.

10.3.1.4 Row Display Options

In addition to the alarm profile tabs, the Alarm Behavior tab displays two checkboxes at the bottom of the screen: Hide default valuesand Hide identical rows. The Hide default values checkbox highlights alarms with non-default severities by clearing alarm cells with default severities. The Hide identical rows checkbox hides rows of alarms that contain the same severity for each profile.

10.3.2 Applying Alarm Profiles

In CTC card view, the Alarm Behavior subtab displays the alarm profiles of the selected card. In node view, the Alarm Behavior subtab displays alarm profiles for the node. Alarms form a hierarchy. A node-level alarm profile applies to all cards in the node, except those that have their own profiles. A card-level alarm profile applies to all ports on the card, except those that have their own profiles.

At the node level, you may apply profile changes on a card-by-card basis or set a profile for the entire node. Figure 10-8 shows the profile of a DS-1 card being changed to Inherited at the node view.

Figure 10-8 Node view of a DS1 alarm profile

At the card level, you can apply profile changes on a port-by-port basis or set all ports on that card at once. Figure 10-9 shows the affected DS-1 card; notice the CTC shows Parent Card Profile: Inherited.

Figure 10-9 Card view of a DS1 alarm profile

Procedure: Apply an Alarm Profile at the Card View

Step 1 In CTC, display the card view of the desired card.

Step 2 Click the Provisioning > Alarm Behavior tabs.

Step 3 To apply profiles on a port-to-port basis:

a. Click the appropriate row under the Profile column for the port desired.

Note The Port Overrides column at the node view reads true when additional profiles are available and false when only the inherited profile is available.

Tip If you choose the wrong profile, click Reset to return to the previous profile.

10.4 Suppressing Alarms

Suppressing alarms causes alarms to appear under the Conditions tab instead of the Alarms tab. It prevents alarms from appearing on CTC Alarm or History tabs or in any other clients. The suppressed alarms behave like conditions, which have their own non-reporting (NR) severities. Under the Conditions tab, the suppressed alarms appear with their alarm severity, color code, and service-affecting status.

Note Use alarm suppression with caution. If multiple CTC/TL1 sessions are open, you will suppress the alarms in all other open sessions.